Green eggs anyone?

The winds of change have been blowing through my chook kingdom.  Since Prince Charming joined the teenage Barred Rock boys in the freezer, a bit of a sort out has been going on in the rooster ranks.

I thought that Iceberg would assume the role of "Abu Two" (yes I know I've not previously confessed to Abu the first being knocked on the head after taking one too many flying leaps at me). The other contenders for the Head Roo role were Lychee - the beautiful blue Barred Rock, and Pinecone - small in stature but growing in confidence by the day.

On Sunday Iceberg appeared on the front lawn with blood on the back of his neck, looking very sorry for himself.  Being me, I had a wee panic and raced out to check on the other roos.  Pinecone was merrily hanging out with the smaller girls, while Lychee seemed to have acquired an extra bit of strut in his stride.  That's the way things have been since; Lychee is now Abu the Roo Two, Iceberg has become second in command and Pinecone continues to fly under the radar in the woo-ing stakes.

There is another young lad who's recently started to make his presence known.  He is an absolute stunner who I've named Vin Diesel.  His dad was Prince Charming, his mum Kiwifruit the Austrolop.  What that means is that he is already carrying beautifully elegant long tail feathers and a distinctive comb. He is the colour of a petrol or diesel spill - you know - a wonderous slick of black and green and blue. Vin also has flashes of red in his neck feathers. Considering he's not quite three months old, this guy is an absolute head turner.  No idea what I'm going to do in a couple of months time - I don't need another rooster and he's too much of a pin-up boy to go in the freezer - unless I can't find him a new home.

I've been trying to do a head count of boys and girls amongst the chicks born at the same time Vin Diesel was.  Apple's chicks were first - there's a boy and a girl.  Then Figgy and Quince had their broods within days of each other.  Between them they have some amazing looking offspring.  Two carry top knots like Figgy, there're a couple of Light Sussex girls, then it all gets a bit blurry as none of them never stand still and many are similar in colouring. 

Despite all my time spent studying the flock, it still came as an utter surprise when The Boss spotted two eggs laid in a nest under the lounge window.  Two of the girls had picked the same spot that Banana had laid her first egg in months ago.  The bigger surprise was that one of the eggs was green.  It only took a short stake out to discover Juniper the bantam Barred Rock had started to lay, and Grape (my random looking white splash girl) is the green egg layer.  How cool is that?!

What I've learned recently;
1. Pinecone's girlfriend, (the Silkie) is now named Saffron since none of the 'S' fruit names seemed to fit her. She's having a go at being broody and is tucked up in a plastic container with three of her own mini eggs and a couple of Light Sussex eggs for good measure.  Watch this space.
2. SOMEONE has started laying eggs outside in the original chook run.  I'm hoping it's a temporary reaction to the Silkie taking over ownership of the nesting boxes until I moved her into her own home. I'm watching the space under the bush closely.
3. Nestle still haven't posted the winners of the GPS competition on their webpage.  They've sent me another email with competitions in it, I wonder if anything will self destruct if I enter?